Category Archives: Pigeons!

Last week rescue crews worked to save about a dozen pigeons from a store sign in Wethersfield, Connecticut after they became stuck. The store had employed a pest control company to keep birds from roosting in their sign. A gel was applied to the sign in order to repel pigeons. When the temperature outside dropped, however, the gel became adhesive and pigeons became affixed to the sign. The birds were in the care of animal control and were expected to make a full recovery. You can read the full story Crews Rescue Stuck Pigeons at WFSB.

“London Mayor Ken Livingstone defended his policy of slashing the numbers of pigeons in Trafalgar Square, amid a flap over the cost of keeping the famous tourist landmark bird-free. Feathers were also flying among animal rights activists after it emerged that two hawks deployed in the square, intended to scare off pigeons, were in fact killing them.” Read the full story at Yahoo News.

An elderly couple from the Dutch town of Leeuwarden has been forbidden to feed pigeons within a two kilometer radius from their house. That was the judgement from the Frisian court on Thursday. Thirteen neighbor families brought the senior couple to court for attracting dozens of pigeons to their neighborhood, along with the nuisance of pigeon poop and coos. Food that was not eaten by the pigeons also attracted vermin to the neighborhood.

The offenders will be allowed to keep fifteen domestic pigeons in their yard, but they may only be fed in a caged area to prevent wild birds from returning to the garden.

A festival in Texarkana, Texas was spoiled as pigeons nose-dived into the pavement, dead. Other pigeons were discovered dying on city sidewalks after they ate poisoned corn. At least 25 sick or dead birds were collected by authorities. CapitalOne Bank had hired an exterminator to remove pigeons from their property after a bird got into the building and defecated on a customer. The poisoned corn was meant to sicken the birds and encourage them to roost elsewhere. Read the full story FALLING DEAD PIGEONS MAR CITY FESTIVAL in the Tyler Paper.

A homing pigeon named Judy got lost during a race from Bourges in France back to her home in Northumberland, Great Britain. The race course was about 1000KM long, but Judy was found on St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies. Read the full story The homing pigeon that lost it – badly.

Racing pigeons, blown off course by storms, have been rescued from remote Scottish islands by National Trust staff. The birds faced starvation due to lack of suitable vegetation, or becoming prey to other birds, if they remained on the island. Some of the lost birds are believed to have started their journey from as far away as France. Read the full story Lost pigeons saved from islands on the BBC.

Last week five villagers in Jhalabordi village, in the Indian state of Gujarat, died while trying to save a pigeon that had fallen into a dry well. It was not clear if the pigeon survived the ordeal. Read the full story Five die trying to save pigeon in the Australian News.

An Italian researcher has shown that pigeons rely on their sense of smell to navigate. It was previously thought that they used variations in the Earth’s magnetic field why flying home. The research involved denying some birds use of their olfactory nerves, while others had nerves linked to magnetic detection severed. The birds without ability to smell became lost while most of the other pigeons returned home from a distance of 30 miles. Read the full story Pigeons’ homing instinct is all down to smell in the Observer.

Last week a judge ruled that the Dutch town of Groningen can continue catching and gassing pigeons in the city center. The animal protection agency Dierenbescherming had tried to stop the killings by bringing a lawsuit against the municipality.

According to the judge the large population of pigeons is a serious nuisance in Groningen and the town is justified to catch the birds and kill them with poisonous gas.

Dierenbescherming had presented more humane methods of removing the birds from the city center, including luring the pigeons away with special food. According to the judge the alternative methods would not rid the town of the pigeons fast enough.

Last weekend thieves stole thirteen pigeons from Handzame resident Georges Bolle. Among the missing birds were some of the most prized birds in the collection.

The weekend crime was the third pigeon robbery in the area in the last few weeks. Birds were also stolen from keepers in Ingelmunster and Wervik. Mr. Bolle lost 13 male pigeons; thirteen female birds were taken in the Wervik incident. The birds were all banded so using them for racing is not possible. The thieves may try to use the birds to raise a new generation of racing pigeons.